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How should we measure success in the emerging church? By looking at what our practices produce in the called people of God as they are sent out on a mission to Live as light and salt in their communities (Matt. 5:13-16). By seeing if people in our church take sociaI justice and caring for the needy seriously as part of the mission Jesus did. We must measure success by looking for the same characteristics that the Spirit of God commended in the emerging missional Thessalonian church of the first century: "And so you became a mode[ to all believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The Lord's message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia-your faith in God has become known everywhere.... They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead" (1 Thess. 1:7-10). Pp15

Modern Church Emerging Church


Evangelism is an event that you invite people to.
Evangelism is a process that occurs through relationship, trust, and example.

Evangelism is primarily concerned with getting people into heaven
Evangelism is concerned with people's experiencing the reality of living under the reign of his kingdom now.

Evangelism is focused on pre-Christians.
Evangelism is focused on post-Christians.

Evangelism is done by evangelists.
Evangelism is done by disciples.

Evangelism is something you do in addition to discipleship.
Evangelism is part of being a disciple.

Evangelism is a message.
Evangelism is a conversation.
Pp281

So what does evangeLism Look Like in the emerging church? Ch 18 (p/c)


George Hunter, in his book The Celtic Way of Evangelism, has his finger on the pulse of what is happening in the emerging world of evangelism

the Roman model for reaching people (who are 'civilized' enough) is: (1) Present the Christian message; (2) Invite them to decide to believe in Christ and become Christians; (3) If they decide positively, welcome them into the church and its fellowship.

contrasting Celtic model for reaching people:

1. You first establish community with people or bring them into the fellowship of your community of faith. 2. Within fellowship, you engage in conversation, ministry, prayer, and worship. 3. In time, as they discover what you believe, you invite them to commit.

204

Post Christians “Thanks but no thanks….!” 200

“whenever I meet a Buddhist leader, I meet a holy man. Whenever I meet a Christian leader I meet a manager” Os Guiness pp 238

I know that in modern culture these terms may resonate with those who are used to hearing them in the business world, so hearing them in a church context may be refreshing and make sense. But for generations who are skeptical of the idea of the church as a business, we need to rethink this. Think of titles like senior pastor. Did Jesus have a senior discip[e? A senior fisher of men? What signals do titles like these send to people in emerging generations?
234

Since the seventeenth century more and more people have discovered, originally to their surprise, that they could ignore God and the church, yet be none the worse for it. 15

The illusion that human hopes for freedom, justice, and true progress can be realized by relying on reason or human resolve alone, or by the mechanics of economic, technological, or political development, has finally exploded. Enlightenment reason, which had declared itself autonomous and had conferred legitimacy on itself, is now being challenged pp23

Because God is a missionary God, God's people are missionary people. The church's mission is not secondary to its being; the church exists in being sent and in building up itself for its mission (Barth 1956:725. 1 am here following the German original rather than the English translation). As Hoedemaker (1988:169-71, 178f) rightly argues, this means that ecclesiology does not precede missiology; there cannot be church without an intrinsic missionary dimension. And Shenk (1991:107) quotes Emil Brunner's famous adage: "The church exists by mission, just as fire exists by burning."

Unless the church of the West begins to understand this, and unless we develop a missionary theology, not just a theology of mission, we will not achieve more than merely patch up the church. We are in need of a missiological agenda for theology, not just a theological agenda for mission; for theology, rightly understood, has no reason to exist other than critically to accompany the missio Dei (see, on this, Bosch 1991:489-98). 32

Mission is more than and different from recruitment to our brand of religion; it is alerting people to the universal reign of God. 33

We will have to do our utmost to resist this temptation [maintenance of religion as private affair]. It belongs to our missionary mandate to ask questions about the use of power in our societies, to unmask those that destroy life, to show concern for the victims of society while at the same time calling to repentante those who have turned them into victims, and to articulate God's active wrath against all that distorts and diminishes human beings and all that exploits, squanders, and disfigures the world for selfishness, greed, and self-centered power. Pp 34

Johannes Aagaard expressed similar sentiments. The soft age of mission, he suggested, had gone. "The days of the missio triumfans have passed and the days of the missio pressa have come .... The decisive missiological questions to which we have to respond will often be put to us by the judges and the prosecutors." Along with Matthew 28, Matthew 10 would now be "the charter for missiological praxis and reflection." 61

Conformed to His Image: Biblical and Practical Approaches to Spiritual Formation(Zondervan, 2001) by Kenneth BoaAn excellent introduction to the practice of spiritual formation.

The Pursuit of God by A. W. TozerAn evangelical classic of spiritual formation.

Renovation of the Heart: Putting on the Character of Christ (NavPress, 2002) by Dallas Willard Another excellent introduction.

Satisfy Your Soul: Restoring the Heart of Christian Spirituality (NavPress, 1999) by Bruce DemarestA review of the blessings and dangers of the spiritual formation movement from a solidly evangelical perspective.

Streams of Living Water: Celebrating the Great Traditions of the Christian Faith (HarperCollins, 1998) by Richard FosterA valuable review of the heritage, strengths, weaknesses, and practice of six different streams of Christian spirituality.

very funny

Evangelism - Which Way Now?: An Evaluation of Alpha, Emmaus, Cell Church and Other Contemporary Strategies for Evangelism (Explorations S.) Mike Booker, Mark Ireland

GC: Ambiguous Evangelism Bob Mayo, Sylvie Collins, Sara Savage

GC: Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith ~ Rob Bell

gc: http://prodigal.typepad.com/prodigal_kiwi/2005/12/spiritual_direc.html

GC: Faithworks 3: Unpacked - a practical manual, Steve Chalke

GC: Faithworks 2: Stories of Hope, Steve Chalke and Tom Jackson

GC: Faithworks: Intimacy and Involvement, Steve Chalke with Simon Johnston

GC: 100 Proven Ways to Transform Your Community, Steve Chalke with Anthony Watkis

GC: Prayerworks: The Manual

GC: The Lost Message of Jesus, Steve Chalke & Alan Mann

GC: Trust: A Radical Manifesto, Steve Chalke

GC: McGrath - Bridge Building

GC: The Isaiah Vision: Ecumenical Strategy for Congregational Evangelism ~Raymond Fung

GC: Bruggamann Texts under negotiation. The bible and pomo imagination

GC: wink - Transforming bible study

GC: Ancient-Future Evangelism: Making Your Church a Faith-Forming Community (Webber, Robert. Ancient-Future Faith Series.) by Robert E. Webber (Paperback - October 2003)

GC: Live to Tell: Evangelism for a Postmodern Age by Brad J. Kallenberg (Paperback - October 2002)

GC: Believing in the Future: Toward a Missiology of Western Culture (Christian Mission and Modern Culture) by David Jacobus Bosch, David J. Bosch

GC: Biblical Perspectives on Evangelism: Living in a Three-Storied Universe by Walter Brueggemann (Paperback - July 1993)